For information on conifers for troughs and rock gardens, please click the "Troughs/Rock Gardens" tab.

Unfamiliar botanical names, and the need for dry, sandy or rocky sites can make gardening with alpines a bit tricky. However, given time and practice, you will discover an interesting alternative to traditional perennial gardening. Creating rock gardens and gardening in troughs is a fun and rewarding experience.

Note - Alpines that have pictures will be written in dark green and underlined. Click on the name of the alpine to view the picture.

Acaena sericea...New 2012
Belongs to the rosacea family. Native to southern Chile and Patagonia.
Drought tolerant, compact creeper with sharply-toothed leaflets covered in silver hairs. Small, insignificant, globe-shaped, creamy pink flowers bloom in summer and form seed pods that resemble burrs. 2" x 12".

Acinos alpinus
Common name: Alpine Rock-Thyme
Red-violet flowers bloom in summer on 5-6" stems, with rich green foliage that forms an attractive mat. An excellent groundcover with evergreen leaves. Leaves may be used in cooking (minty flavor), or as a tea substitute. Dry, sunny location. Zone 4.

Aethionema schitosum...New 2012
Common name: Fragrant Persian Stonecress
A symmetrical mound of blue-green leaves is covered with sweetly fragrant, candy-pink flowers in spring. Needs a dryer soil, especially in winter. Zone 4. Self sows unless deadheaded. Height 10", Width 15"

Alchamilla faeroensis var pumila...New 2012
Common name: Dwarf Lady's Mantle
Finer in texture and more compact than the common Alchemilla mollis and better suited to the rock garden and for edging. Yellow-green leaves with velvety silver backing. Short sprays of chartreuse flowers appear in June. Rare. Sun/Part Shade. 3-4" tall x 8-12" wide.

Androsace sempervivoides
Common name: Rock Jasmine
Clumping rosettes of this plant resemble sempervivums. Rose/mauve flowers with yellow centers emerge on short stems from the center of the rosettes early to late May. Does prefer some afternoon shade. Does not like to be too wet or too dry. Height - less than 6". Space 6-9".

Arabis caucasica compacta 'Snowball'
Common name: Wall Rockcress
Darling, 6" alpine bush, with masses of dainty white flowers blooming spring to early summer. Beautiful planted with spring bulbs, in pots, or in a rock garden. To promote a neat, compact growth habit shear back right after bloom. Full sun, 6" x 12

Arabis sturii
Common Name: Rock Cress
Dense, shiny, dark green foliage, with showy white flowers in spring. Gows 5-8" tall and 12-15" wide. Zone 4

Arenaria alfacarensis
Common name: Sandwort
This alpine originated in Spain and features tight, compact buns of tiny triangular grayish-green foliage. Stemless white flowers in summer. Grows 2" tall x 6" wide. Troughs or crevices in the rock garden.

Arenaria tetraquetra...New 2012
Common name: Spanish Soapwort
A drought tolerant creeper that is great in rock gardens. Large white, stemless flowers appear in May to early June. Deep green, evergreen foliage becomes a dense, hard mat. A cute little plant! Full sun, height: 1-2"

Arenaria 'Wallowa Mtn' (Sandwort)
Alpine and Rock Garden
Tight rich-green cushions with tiny white flowers. An intriguing Oregon native. 2" x 12", Needs good drainage, Full sun to partial shade, Zone 5

Armeria juniperfolia 'Rosa Stolz'
Common name: Sea Thrift or Sea Pinks
Tiny, grass-like tussocks of dark, evergreen foliage bear myriads of pastel lavender, button flowers on 3" stems late in the spring to early summer and often again in fall. Zone 3

Armeria maritima 'Little Penny'
Common name: Sea Thrift or Sea Pinks
‘Little Penny’ is noted for its reddish-purple foliage and crimson red flowers. This is a compact, low-growing plant which forms a dense, mounded tuft of stiff, linear, grass-like, red/purple-tinged leaves (to 3” tall). Tufts will slowly spread outward. Tiny, crimson pink flowers bloom in mid spring in globular clusters atop slender, naked stalks rising above the foliage to 4-5” tall. Sporadic additional flowering may occur throughout the summer. Full sun, Zone 5

Artemesia 'Tiny Green'
Common name: Wormwood
New diminutive alpine, 2-3" high with mat-forming gray-green foliage and tiny, yellowish button flowers in summer. An especially worthy gem to plant in the rockery or trough. Zone 5

Aubrieta 'Dr. Mules'
Magenta-purple flowers look radiant April- May as they bloom in masses over attractive, medium green, mounding foliage. Grows 3-4" tall. Semi-evergreen. Zone 5

Aubrieta 'Dr. Mules Variegated'
Common name: Purple Rock Cress
Attactive, spreading mats of green leaves with cream edges and pinkish-purple flowers blooming in spring. RHS Award of Garden Merit Winner. Zone 5

Aubrieta gracillis...New 2012
Common name: Dwarf Rock Cress
An attractive, dense, green mat with cascades of dainty violet flowers in the spring. Full sun to part shade. Zone: 4a. Height: 4" Width 12"

Azorella trifurcata minima
2" compact, creeping plant that forms hard mats of glossy green rosettes that follow every contour of the surface it grows over. Insignificant pale creamy-yellow blooms appear in May - June. Zone 3

Bolax glebaria (Plastic Plant)
Alpine and Rock Gardens, Groundcovers
Looks like the commercial plastic turfgrass. Small, shiny, dark green, downward curving leaves set in congested rosettes. An evergreen perennial from the Falkland Islands, Astroturf loves warm weather but is hardy to Zone 4. Perfect for rock gardens, mini meadows, all season ground cover or as Bonsai companion plant.
Mature size: 1" Full sun to part shade. Well drained soil with some grit, fine gravel or sand mixed in and a slightly alkaline PH.

Campanula cochlearifolia 'Bavaria Blue'
Common name: Bellflower
Excellent dwarf cultivar which flowers most of the season. This dark blue, compact form reaches only 4-5" tall. Zone 3

Campanula cochlearifolia 'Elizabeth Oliver'
A great choice for the rock garden! Nodding, pale periwinkle double flowers bloom July - September over mat-forming foliage with small, rounded leaves. It spreads but does not reseed like the species. Grows to 4" tall. Zone 4

Campanula portenschlagiana 'Aurea'
Common name: Bellflower
6-8", dwarf campanula with a long bloom period from June - September. Luscious, open-faced violet-blue bells contrast nicely with the creeping golden foliage underneath. More tidy than C. portenschlagiana. Zone 4

Cassiope...New 2012
Common name: Mountain Heather
Rapidly becoming one of my favorite alpine plants. An evergreen, tufted shrub which is mat-forming. Vertical stems. I have used mine in a pot with succulents and take it in the house for the winter. Also great in the rock garden. Afternoon shade.

Crassula peploides
Common name: Jade Plant
Alpine variety forms aggressive mats with small 1" white flowers. Zone 5

Crassula sedifolia
Common name: Jade Plant
Dense pods of congested rosettes, formed by tiny, bronzed, fleshy leaves are covered with small white flowers on 1" stems in summer. Sunny locations.
Zone 4

Daphne arbuscula 'KD'...New 2012
A small Daphne species suitable for rock gardens, crevices or troughs.

Daphne 'Maisy Larae'...New 2012
(D. circassica x D. arbuscula)
A very compact little dome of narrow, dark green foliage. It has large, fragrant rosy-purple blooms and stays small enough for a trough. Rare.

Daphne oleodeis x compact form...New 2012
Not much information on this one yet. But…it's a Daphne, how could it be anything but great!

Delosperma basuticum (Hardy Ice Plant)
Alpines and Rock Gardens, Cactus and Succulents
Amazingly drought tolerant these little mesembs will tolerate hot and dry sites that would fry most other plants and still flower like mad. Many are surprisingly cold tolerant although they do tend to melt in wet spring weather. Delosperma will also self-sow in the garden and any surviving scraps quickly grow back to form a good-sized plant in a single season. Yellow flower with white eye. 1" x 12-15" Full Sun to part shade. Slightly alkaline soil. Zone 5

Delosperma congestum 'Gold Nugget'
Common name: Hardy Ice Plant
Yellow, daisy-like flowers with succulent leaves that turn bright red in winter. Drought tolerant plant that likes afternoon shade. Zone 4

Dianthus callizonus...New 2012

Dianthus 'Little Joe...New 2012

Dianthus minutiflorus...New 2012

Dianthus myrtinervius...New 2012

Dianthus petraeus...New 2012

Dianthus petraeus subsp. noeanus
Alpines, Perennials
Midsummer - intensely fragrant, snow white, frilly flowers with toothed petals, borne singly on upright stems. It makes mats of narrow, pointed, rather stiff leaves, green, but slightly glaucous. Zone 4 (5), Mature size: 6" x 10", Full sun to part shade

Douglasia montanna...New 2012

Draba aizoides
2-4" tall with basal rosettes that form a nice central mound. Umbels of ¼" yellow flowers late winter to mid-spring. Zone 3

Draba brunifolia
Slender-leafed rosettes build slowly to form tight low mats and bear masses of bright yellow blooms in spring. Caucasus to Turkey 3" x 12" Sun/part sun Excellent trough plant

Draba dedeana
Alpines, Rock Gardens
Dense cushions of tightly stacked deep green rosettes adorned in spring with a crown of short-stemmed white jewels. Spain, in moist shady places. Size: 3" x 4", Full sun

Draba glacialus...New 2012

Draba polytricha
Bright yellow flowers bloom in early spring on tufts of evergreen foliage with hairy, rounded leaves. Grows 2" tall. Armenian native. Zone 3

Draba rigida v bryoides...New 2012

Draba rigida
This Draba makes a dense cushion of tiny rosettes with clusters of yellow flowers on 2-3" stems. We have found this to be quite hardy in the open rock garden. Requires a very well drained soil in full sun. 3"h x 4", Zone 4

Draba rosularis
Originally from the cliffs in Kurdistan, this small alpine forms tiny gray buns, 4" x 2" with yellow flowers blooming April to May. A great addition to any rock garden. Zone 5

Draba sphaeroides...New 2012

Edrianthus amoenium...New 2012

Edrianthus graminifolius
Common Name: Grassy Bells
6" tufts of grass-like blades send up violet-blue bells in ball-like clusters in summer. Zone 4

Edrianthus oweinaianus...New 2012

Edrianthus pumillio...New 2012

Gentiana acaulis
Intense deep blue trumpets on glossy green rosettes in spring-early summer. 3" x 12" Wow! Europe.

Gentiana acaulis 'Krebbs'...New 2012

Gentiana acaulis "Rannoch'...New 2012

Gentiana areyriana...New 2012

Gentiana petrei...New 2012

Gyosophila bungeana...New 2012

Gypsophila cerastioides
Common Name: Baby's Breath
Very low, clumping form reaches 2-4" in height. Pure white flowers have distinct purple veins. Foliage may be evergreen in warmer areas. Excellent addition to rock garden. Zone 4

Gypsophila franzii nana compacta
Common Name: Baby's Breath
A nice, compact, mound of blue-gray foliage producing a multitude of very small, pale pink flowers in summer. Grows 2-3" tall.

Helichysum sessiloides...New 2012

Heuchera cylindrica 'Alpina'...New 2012

Heuchera rubescens 'Troy Boy'
This diminutive coral bell is perfect for a rock garden or the front of the border. Tiny, pale pink flowers, tipped with green , bloom in spring. The compact foliage stays tidy with bright green, rounded leaves all season long. Grows to 5". Zone 5

Iberis candolleana...New 2012

Junellia wilczekii...New 2012

Lewisia cotyledon 'Sunset Strain'

Lewisia 'George Henley'
Common Name: Bitter Root
Plants form tight, symmetrical rosettes of spatulate deep green, thick, fleshy leaves. Flowers are held in racemes and are wine red in color. Best grown in scree or gravely soil or in troughs. Grows 6" tall. Zone 5

Lewisia 'Little Plum'
Common Name: Bitter Root
A cross between L. longipetala and L. cotyledon. Fleshy green foliage with masses of plum-pink flowers blooming in summer. Grows to 6". Dry soil.
Zone 5

Lobellia kalmii 'Abby'...New 2012

Micromeria croatica...New 2012

Oiganum suendermanii...New 2012

Penstemon procerus v formosus

Penstemon v Menziesii...New 2012

Petrohagia sax 'Lady Marie'...New 2012

Phlox silenefolia
Common Name: Mountain Phlox
From Fred Case, this phlox has the tightest form available. Like Silene acaulis with tiny, starry, pink flowers. Zone 3

Potentilla crantzii
Common Name: Cinquefoil
4" tufted dwarf cinquefoil, with loose clusters of golden yellow flowers, often orange-blotched at the base. Spring flowering. Zone 3

Potentilla neumanniana 'Nana'
Common Name: Cinquefoil
2" mats covered in yellow flowers in spring. Zone 5

Potentilla pulvinaris...New 2012

Potentilla 'Ron McBeath'...New 2012

Potentilla vera nana 'Orange Flame'

Primula x allionii 'Airmist'

Rosularia chrysantha
Small, fuzzy, succulent foliage forms attractive pale emerald-green rosettes with large cream flowers blooming late spring-summer. Native to Turkey. Zone 5

Rosularia sedoides...New 2012

Rosularia serprintica...New 2012

Saponaria 'Bressingham'
Common Name: Soapwort
This fragrant 8" mat-forming, semi-evergreen groundcover has masses of tiny pink flowers June - September. Zone 3

Saponaria lutea...New 2012

Saponaria ocymoides 'Rubra Compacta'...New 2012

Saponaria pumila
Common name: Dwarf soapwort
Native to the East Alps and South Carpathian Mountain in Italy, Austria, andRomania. It likes a sunny site. Flowers are 5-petaled, pink, blooms in August.

Saxifraga 'Bob Hawkins'

Saxifraga cochlearis 'Minor' 4" long scapes of diminutive, star-shaped white flowers rise above compact, lime-encrusted rosettes in June. At maturity 6" wide. Zone 3

Saxifraga irvingii 'Jenkensae'
Abundant single blushing-pink flowers adorn tight buns of small gray-green rosettes in spring. It's a cutie! ½" x 3".

Saxifraga 'Teckles'
One of the best silvers and in high demand, with striking sprays of white flowers with bright red spots. 2" x 6"

Saxifraga 'Whitehill'
Small, compact, mat-forming rosettes. Silver-blue leaves make up rosettes that are flushed red in the center. In early summer, it bears panicles of tiny, white flowers in arching stems. Evergreen, encrusted

Saxifraga 'Winifred Bevington'
Rosettes of tiny green leaves and plenty of white flowers with pink spots. 5" x 5"

Saxifraga x columpoda...New 2012

Saxifraga x zimmeteri
A natural hybrid between S. paniculata and S. cuneifolia, this cute little saxifrage from Austria has flattish glossy dark green rosettes that are margined in gray-silver and bear sprays of starry white flowers in spring. 3" x 8"

Sempervivum ...see listing at bottom of the page

Silene acaulis 'Heidi'
Soft green cushions have very fine textured foliage that is sprinkled with rose-pink flowers in early summer. From the Swiss alps. 1" x 8"

Silene acaulis sssp. Acaulis
Wide mats of congested shoots clothed in small bright green leaves. Bright pink flowers are almost stemless. May - June. Grows 4" tall. Zone 3

Silene ciliata...New 2012

Sidentis hyssopifolum...New 2012

Thymus caespithus...New 2012

Thymus praecox 'Doretta Klaber'
One of the tightest forms. Small, fuzzy leaves form a 2" x 12" mat with dark pink flowers blooming May - June. Zone 3

Thymus praecox 'Minor'
Flattest, tightest and lowest form of creeping thyme.. Excellent for rock gardens and between flagstones. Zone 3

Thymus praecox 'Roseum'
Dense, dark green mats with light pink flowers. Grows just 2" tall, making it a great groundcover or filler for a stone walkway. Zone 3

Thymus quinquecostatus ibukiensis
A showy, Japanese native thyme with low mats, covered with abundant pink flowers. Grows just 2-4" tall with a 12" spread. Zone 4

Thymus quinquecostatus ibukiensis 'Alba'
A native of Japan, this thyme is one of the showiest. Low mats are covered with abundant white flowers. Zone 4

Townsendia condensata...New 2012

Townsendia mensana
Dense rosettes of silver-gray are embedded with pale pink flowers in spring. UT. 1" x 3" Full sun Excellent trough plant Good for dry areas

Townsendia montana...New 2012

Townsendia parryi...New 2012

Vaccinum 'Hamilton'...New 2012

Verbena sp...New 2012

Veronica fruiticulous...New 2012

Veronica satureioides...New 2012

Veronica spicata nana 'Blauteppich'
Bright indigo blue flowers in summer over 4-6" mats. Compact grower. Zone 3

Veronica thymoides v speudocineria...New 2012

Vitalliana primuliflora...New 2012

Semp arach 'Ramses'
Semp arach Robin
Semp arach sssp Tomentosum
Semp Atroviolaceum
Semp Beatrice
Semp Bedivere
Semp Beta
Semp Bronco
Semp Bronze Pastel
Semp C. William
Semp calc Limelight
Semp Charlodensis
Semp Collage
Semp Donna Rose
Semp Edge of Knight
Semp El Toro
Semp Emerald Giant
Semp Excalibur
Semp Fame
Semp Fame Montrose
Semp Fimbriatum
Semp Flame
Semp Flamingo
Semp Fuego
Semp Glowing Embers
Semp Grammens
Semp Hayling
Semp Heigham Red
Semp Helveticum
Semp heuf Commander Hay
Semp hirta Olympicum
Semp Hot Stuff
Semp Imperial
Semp Irene
Semp IWO
Semp Jade Rose
Semp jov Beacon Hill
Semp jov heuf Violet
Semp jov heuf Wotan
Semp jov heuf Xanthoheuff
Semp jov hirta ssp Arenaria
Semp Jungle Fires
Semp Lowes
Semp Mayfair Red
Semp Monases
Semp Monfort
Semp Oh My
Semp Ornatum
Semp Pilosella
Semp Pink Delight
Semp Pluto
Semp Ramses
Semp Raspberry Ice
Semp Red Gleam
Semp Red Purple
Semp Reinhard
Semp Royal Ruby
Semp Tan
Semp Tect Tokajense
Semp Tect Zoissieri
Semp Tederheid
Semp Torrid Zone
Semp Triste
Semp Walcott's Variety
Semp Webby Flame
Semp William Lawrence

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